Developer and co-founder of crypto mixer Tornado Cash, Roman Storm, will now face a criminal trial after a US judge denied his request to dismiss the charges against him.
He faces three serious accusations: money laundering, violating sanctions, and running an unlicensed money transfer service.
Judge Katherine Polk Failla, presiding over the case, found the government's arguments strong enough and ruled that the case should move forward on September 26.
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Tornado Cash is an Ethereum-based platform that allows users to anonymize their transactions. While it serves legitimate purposes, the platform has been misused by criminals to launder stolen assets. Because of that, it attracted the attention of law enforcement agencies, leading to the indictment of Storm and co-founder Roman Semenov in August 2023.
In his motion to dismiss the lawsuit, Storm claimed that Tornado Cash was a decentralized platform beyond his control, created with the intent to help legitimate users safeguard their financial privacy.
However, Judge Failla said she was not convinced by Storm's argument that he was targeted "merely for writing code" and added:
If the jury ultimately accepts this narrative, then it will acquit. But there's no basis for me to decide that as a matter of law.
She further pointed out that Tornado Cash had financial backing from investors, suggesting it was more than just an "altruistic venture."
Jake Chervinsky, a legal expert from Variant, criticized the ruling on social media, calling it an attack on developers' rights.
Storm's trial is set to begin on December 2, and if found guilty, he could face up to 45 years in prison.
Another co-founder of Tornado Cash, Alexey Pertsev, was sentenced to five years and four months by a Dutch court for laundering $1.2 billion through the platform, though he is currently appealing the verdict. Meanwhile, Semenov remains on the run.
